When I went to Istanbul a couple of years ago, many people expressed how concerned they were about my safety. I wasn't scared, but trusting anybody wasn't part of my plan. I was blown away by the people there. To this day, the Turks are possibly the most hospitable people I have met.

The rug salesmen I was a skeptic of would offer me directions and tea (disclaimer: I don't like tea), asking for nothing in return. I totally missed a boat tour due to some delays on a previous outing. One of the guys working at the hostel, and I was able to reschedule with no monetary penalty. I asked directions to Taksim Square from a waiter on that boat tour. He ended up leading me himself, paying for my subway fare, and even gave me a short tour of the square İstiklal Avenue. There was another time when I was somehow drawn into a game of backgammon with some elderly men and drank a lot of tea with them.

It's been a rough year in Turkey. It seems like they keep having one terrorist attack after another by ISIS and Kurdish militants. Their president keeps becoming more authoritarian, doing his best to crush any dissent.

With all the bad stuff happening, I will go back someday even if the dust hasn't settled.. It's not in despite of anything. There's something wonderful about that place, and the Turkish people are the reason why.

When I had booked my flight to Turkey, I had never heard of Cappadocia. A manager at work, who is well traveled, told me I should visit this place. I was hesitant. It would increase the budget of my trip. It could also be a logistical nightmare for me.

After viewing photos and videos of Cappadocia, there was no way I could visit Turkey without visiting it. I soon found a small tour company which offered budget tours. They provided transportation to and from Cappadocia from Istanbul, two days of tours in Cappadocia, a hot air balloon ride, lodging, and lunch and dinner for both days.

To get to Cappadocia, I took an overnight bus to the region. I walked to a nearby hostel to catch a shuttle to take me to the Istanbul bus terminal. This wasn't a bad place to wait, plus they had fish and chips!

Riding a bus in Turkey is a little different than riding a Greyhound bus. It is much cleaner. When you book, you indicate what gender you are. If you are not married, you will be assigned a seat to a person who is the same sex as you.

We arrived in Göreme early in the morning. I walked to my hotel, but couldn't check in yet. They allowed me to freshen up in their public shower. I was soon picked up for my first tour of the reason.

In Cappadocia, there are three different tour itineraries offered; Red Tour, Green Tour, and Blue Tour. There are many different tour companies, but they basically do the same tours. They also use identical looking vans as transport.

​Our tour guide gave all of seven of us in the tour Turkish name. The name he gave me was Cem (pronounced Gem).

The table we had our day one lunch at.

Me in Derinkuyu. It's an ancient underground city. It is as far as 18 floors underground.

The hotel I stayed at was actually a cave.​

My hotel room

Early the following morning, a shuttle picked me up to take me to my hot air balloon ride.

The pilot landed the balloon on the trailer.

After my second full day of touring, I jumped on an overnight bus back to Istanbul that night.​